standing by. >> gunmen who police say kill tleed women at a pennsylvania health club before killing himself. the on-line diary speaks volumes for the possible motive for the rampage. susan candiotti is live in pittsburgh taking that inside the mind of a killer. >> it all unfolded here on "american journal" yesterday. two journalists free and back home with their families. today we're asking what life was like in north korea and an emotional reaction from sister lisa ling. how much did president clinton's rescue mission cost and are taxpayers picking up the tab? we have answers on that as well. the president is approaching a big milestone, 200 days on the job. here at cnn, we're bringing home the political team to take a look at how the president and the country are doing. we asked you to grade the performance zeroing in on the top priorities, health care, foreign policy, but first, the

economy. there's a brand new cnn research opinion poll that came out seconds ago showing 44% of you think that the president's policies have made the economy better. 51% say no, they have not. where is he scoring and where is he stumbling? talk to noted economists as well as "business week's" diane brady with us in a few moments. and we have here on set, christine romans and suzanne malveaux. we start with suzanne. clearly a lot of challenges. when he gets it grade, from our polling, people are saying there's still work to be done on the economy. >> the one thing you hear from president obama is i inherited this problem. this is a big problem i got from president bush. one thing they accomplished and they're proud of is the stimulus package. you say, look, you can see that recovery in the housing market. you can see some signs of things changing, turning around, they perhaps headed off the worst

depression of all time by being in the deep recession. the second thing is they've taken on the auto industries looking for general motors. the cash for clunkers program incredibly popular. billions of dollars have poured in to this. they've managed to increase the sales, chrysler, gm, honda, you name it. taking on wall street. it's a campaign pledge. they wanted to clean up their act. so they've gotten tougher regulations. one of the things that you want to take a look at, christine knows this best, is friday. you take a look at the job numbers, the unemployment numbers. that's going to be the threshold politically, economically. how are things going to hold on if the job numbers look like it's 10% unemployment. >> that could happen. that's a headache for the president that they can't wave a magic wand to make it go away. you're likely to see the unemployment rate to rise. this add administration should be aware of it. all political rules are out the door. the last time this happened in 1982 and the president then

ronald reagan suffered badly, the party did in the midterm election. the other problem are foreclose yurs. the signs of stability in the housing market, the free fall is over. but this report says half of all americans -- half of all americans will owe more on their home than it's worth by the time the recession is over. there's mounting frustration that the lenders, the banks who received the tarp bailout funds aren't doing more to modify the homes. 9% of the money available have been modified. the treasury department going a step further and showing that frustration by naming bank of america and wells fargo as companies they're disappointed with. i've been across the table from the folks at the treasury and they don't like to name specific names but they did. they're growing frustrated with business that the business isn't helping more. >> the washington saying that the banks are dragging it out on

purpose. >> that's what you hear -- the people who there loan servicers, if they drag their feet, there are more fees and there are more fines and all that more money that gets tacked on to the value of this loan. they make money the longer they wait to try to help you out. >> the other -- >> go ahead. >> one of the problems in the waiting here is when you take a look at the economic stimulus money here in the pipeline, there's so little of it that's been spent right now for the projects, the construction projects. what they need to do is see people back at work. people need to feel the recovery. they're not necessarily feeling the recovery right now. that's the political problem for this president. he's been very cautious about -- we don't want boondoggles. we're afraid the bad stories are going to come when all of the waste and inefficiency happens. they've got to find a way to get the money to the construction projects this summer or early fall. >> that's one of the things i was wondering about as well, christine, as we talked about before. we talked about a meeting with timothy geithner said to federal

regulators, stop, you know, you've got to help us out here. what is it in practical terms when it comes to when this money can be spent. >> to stimulus, when the money can be spent, they're spending a lot of must be paving roads, not building up new bridges because they want to get the money quickly. the risk there is the -- the risk is it a short-term job. people don't have the confidence to go out and spend the money in the economy because know those jobs will end in six months or eight months. they have lasting jobs to support a family and the family feels confident enough to go out and spend the money in the economy. that's tricky. we're not a year into what was a terrible financial crisis. people are pulling in, rightfully so. the stimulus money has to convince people -- it's building a foundation for things to get better and have confidence and spend money. >> long way to go. >> long way to go. you bet. >> 200 days. >> throughout the morning we'll

check in with two you. thanks so much. we'll speak to a noted economists and die ab brady. going to get their take and grade for president obama on the economy. and how do you think president obama is doing as we approach the second 100 days of his administration? go to cnn.com/reportcard. that's where you can give your grade for various issues and highlight the things that you think are working and perhaps things that are not. you can see the results, 8:00 eastern here on cnn. also this morning, chilling new information about a pennsylvania gunman who opened fire in a jim. george sodini was hell bent on launching the attack. the on-line diary reveals the frustration with women and he may have been planning the blood bath for a year. susan candiotti is following developments from bridgeville, pennsylvania outside of

pittsburgh. he picked a spot where his defendants would almost be defenseless. >> reporter: that's right, joe. good morning. but not only that, but the gunman went in and out of this gym at least twice and then made a mystery call to someone before pulling the trigger on the final drive. george sodini, 48. the guy with the bright smile had a good job but couldn't get a girl friend. it was one of the things that seemed to push him over the edge. >> clearly, he was full of blame. he blamed everybody for his problems. >> reporter: in an internet blog that appears to have started last november, sodini rails against his mother, family, and women for making him miserable. an entry date last september reads no girlfriend since 1984. who knows why? i'm not ugly or too weird. so sodini was a computer specialist for a pittsburgh law firm. at home, he kept to himself. >> went to work, came back, hardly ever see him around. very quiet.

>> reporter: inside, he appears to be seething. in his blog, he singles out a preacher at a church he i used to attend. this guy teaches me and convinced me you can commit mass murder and still goes to heaven. he goes to the gym, ogles the women. >> all the young, beautiful, attractive, fit women at the health club. so he specifically chose the health club not just for a random spot, to go after the people he blamed. >> reporter: he devises what he calls his exit plan but backs out last january. i chickened out. i brought the loaded gun, everything. hell. over the next several months, sodini's rants continue about women and the gym. at home, police say he circles the aerobics class on the schedule. >> he had a lot of hatred in him and he was hell bent on comme committing this act. nobody was going to stop him. >> reporter: tuesday he goes to

the gym twice, makes a phone call, returns a final time. >> mad man. >> reporter: 36 rounds, three women dead, and a shot to his head. >> you look at the flowers left by family, friends, and stranger, there's a huge sense of loss and a statement to the gunman's family offering prayers to victims and survivors. joe? >> awful story. thanks for that, susan candiotti. new this morning. the two mesh journalists freed from captivity in north korea say they're looking forward to some quiet time with their families. they were reunited with their loved ones yesterday after they were held for four months and finding out new details about what it was like. laura's sister lisa ling was asked about the rescue mission in pyongyang. >> we don't know if it was orchestrated or not. we had a sense that the government had agreed to send

president clinton for which we were grateful. but in terms of whether a release was predetermined, we don't know. >> there you go. that was the first moments after they stepped off of the planes, saw their families for the first time. really an emotional scene that unfolded there in burbank. lisa ling says that her sister and euna were actually kept apart most of the time in north korea and they were poorly fed. they saw each other at their trial for the first time in quite a while and hugged at that time. and she actually said that her sister asked her, could you please write a note to euna letting her know how much i care about her. again, a happy homecoming after all of that. touching to see they cheered up. little girl, hannah. >> amazing. so surprised that of all people, president clinton himself popping in to help. >> you're going to talk about that a little later. how did he become involved?

it was interesting he didn't speak. he let them have their moment of glory and he just sort of quietly slipped away. the knight in shining armor. >> that's president clinton looking for a new role on the world stage. he found it. >> the story is generating a lot of buzz on our hotline, it's 877-my-amfix. interesting, everybody is so happy that the women were brought back. but there were people expressing a lot of different views. one of the things people wanted to know about is how much did this rescue mission cost? here's one of the callers. >> caller: they obviously were trying to get a scoop on the story and cross the line knowing -- they're from there, they know what they're doing. is their family paying for the bill, is it a tax bill? what's the exact cost? and who is paying for that? >> okay, we did some digging. we have the answer. the total price tag, including round trip travel on the private

luxury jet was $200,000. this morning we learned the man who owns the plane is hollywood producer steven bing and he is paying for all of it. he financed big movies including "the polar express." the only thing the tax payers actually covered were the salaries and president clinton's secret service detail and as you know this, joe, no matter where he goes, we pay that. >> and he has incredible contacts around the world. that showed in this instance, didn't it? >> you bet. the deficit soaring and economy sputtering. after 200 days on the job b how is president obama doing when it comes to lifting the economy out of recession. up next, the best financial minds on television. incorporate your business,ou file a patent, make a will and more. you can complete our online questions in minutes.

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♪ i got my rock moves and i don't need you ♪ ♪ and guess what i'm having more fun ♪ >> welcome back to the most news in the morning. 15 minutes after the hour. pobama entered the white house with an economy on the edge and after 200 days in office, unemployment and the deficit continue to grow. but, so do many of your investments at the same time. so how has the president handled the economy so far? we brought with us this morning, diane brady, a senior editor with "business week" and the managing director of the economic cycle research institute. two great minds on the economy. the first thing i want to talk about is the stimulus and how that's turned out. that's a $787 billion. the president said he's done better than expected and he's pointing to the stimulus as the reason why.

we've seen 18% to 20% out right now. how do you think the stimulus is going? >> it's -- it remains to be seen, quite frankly. when you look at it, as you just pointed out, most of it has not hit the economy. someone else must be writing the economy and setting it to a recovery course. from a business cycle point of view, all we do is look at this. last fall, we're staring into the abyss. this is a push to shore up the financial system and keep it alive. we backed away from the abyss. we're in a severe recession. but business cycle dynamics begin to take over. that's more to do with the fact we're having a recovery this summer than the stimulus package. the stimulus package will reenforce the recovery down the road. but i wouldn't blame the recovery all on the stimulus. >> doesn't that bolster the gop argument that it was wasteful spending and shaping up to be wasteful spending and

libertarians said we shouldn't be messing in this? >> far be it for me to take the libertarian staps. it was needed to shore up confidence. that money will flow to the system. but the reality is, businesses have been slashing costs and some cases laying off people they don't even have to lay off. that's been why the economy improved a lot last quarter. earnings were up. but it's hard to get that money into the economy and create jobs. >> i think the issue of confidence is tough to measure, right, how confident are you? then you say something. it's not very tangible. it's worth something. the confidence in the early stages of the plan to right the economy or to fix what was wrong with the economy was real and tangible and certainly contributed to the fact that the business cycle dynamic moving up was able to be sustained. >> right. >> the real issue -- we're all talking about deficits, right, a core of a lot of the discussions right now. what happens longer time in the stimulus. the policy moves, this has a lot

to do with the pace of growth longer term, the pace of the expansion. if the pace of the expansion is weak, you have a lot of trouble with deficits. if you have the pace of the expansion is strong or a longer expansion, you might have something closer to the 1990s where you were able to bring the deficit down. >> hard to image if any you're talking trillions. diane, i want to ask you about the other big move, that's the federal government to step in and rescue the auto industry. this is something they hoped they didn't have to do, guiding them to bankruptcy in some cases like general motors. $60 million went out for bailout funds. we have the cash for clunkers program. how are we doing in terms of figuring out if the vital industry will make it. >> cash for clunkers worked out well. the reality is three car companies in detroit, you talk a lot of businesses, one should have been allowed to go under. a lot of jobs lost. but failure is a big institution. it's a valuable practice.

it clears out the problems and lets new companies to grow. i don't know how sustainable it is going forward. >> absolutely. we're trying to have our cake and eat it too. if you're a free market economy, the achilles heel of that is you get recessions and downturns. that's part and parcel of what we've bought in to. and them when he say we don't like the pain of what happens in the downturns. i understand that too. it's reasonable. we're trying to have it both ways by saving or limiting some of the pain yet enjoying a owlf the other ben be fits benefits free market. >> wall street as well, will there be regulations. we helped them make it through the tough time and what does it mean in turnarounds. a grade on how the economy is doing. a quick break and then we'll answer this question.

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figured out in the break that there are no easy answers on how to fix the economy or we would have done it right now. we're back with diane brady and lackhshi achutsan. what about the wall street cleanup? will we see the type of changes many were calling for in an effort to make sure whatever happened it's argument, won't happen again. >> there's a limit on how much the president can do. we need more regulation, but the reality is they're back to the same behavior. you've seen fantastic earnings coming from banks like goldman sachs. a lot of money flowing back in to the hands of bankers. what's made a lot of americans really angry in the idea that we socialize the losses, the taxpayers take the downside. we privatize the gains. all the millions, whether it's risky behavior or not, goes in

the hands of the banks. but they're confident we're not going to let them fail. >> one upside would be perhaps for the people looking at the 401(k)s and retirement and saying, what? this is down 33%, 45% from the last time i looked. are we gaining that back? is this going to be something that people can rely on, especially this close to retirement? >> we're gaining it back. we've seen fantastic gains in the stock market. that's part of the reason, in fact, wall street is doing better. they get a piece of that, in essence. >> right. >> but sustainable is an open question. that all depends on the durability and the pace of the recovery. that's where maybe a lot of the stimulus money that hasn't been spent could arguably oriented towards lifting the growth longer term. a big open question we don't know the answer if that works or not. and if you look over decades, actually, the trend of recoveries has been getting weaker. so you're kind of fighting against the wind here. >> i want to give you guys an opportunity to give your overall

grade. start with diane. what do you think in terms of how the administration has handled the economy so far as a whole? >> i talk to business people, they give the administration a c. i give them a b. he put the right people in place which is what a manager does. it's hard for any president to get an a-plus in this environment. he made strong moves. he may be trying to shove through too much at this point, health care is one example. >> reluctantly give him a grade. >> he's a professor that liked to give an i. if you have to grade -- >> incomplete. it's too soon to tell what's going to come from all of this, i would give him a b-plus. two specific reasons. one is whatever he did, it was enough to stabilize confidence, which has allowed the business cycle dynamic to really kick in and bring this recession to an end. and it depends on what these

policies will do for longer-term growth. if they can actually support it, then the deficit issue is less painful than we might think. but if you can't, then it's going to hurt more than you think. >> check back with you in the next 100 days. tha thanks, great to talk to both of you. >> thank you. >> how is the administration doing? cast your vote. see the results tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern. two powerful russian sub are a submarines are cruising off of the u.s. east coast. do they have something else in mind?

gentleman, in the last 24 hour, we've seen extraordinary soviet activity. this ship, we believe called the red october. >> would you characterize this as a first strike weapon? >> that is a possibility, sir. >> first strike weapon? welcome back to the most news in the morning. a scene from the cold war thriller, "the hunt for red october." back in the day, the cat and mouse games between the u.s. and russia were often mined by hollywood. russia appears to be flexing its military muscle again. two of the nuclear powered submarines are cruising the waters off of america's east coast. despite the appearance of a cold war sequel, the pentagon is playing down any potential threat. chris laurence is following that story for us. >> joe, kiran, the navy has been tracking these subs through international waters, but the russians may have sent them as a

message to other nations, not the u.s. on the surface, it seems threatening. two russian attack subs, patrolling a couple hundred miles off of america's tern seaboard. but dig deeper -- this may be an elaborate sales cruise. the russians bringing nuclear-powered submarines halfway around the world to show them off for potential buyers. >> this particular submarine are the same type that india is looking to purchase. >> reporter: and the same type that now functioned last year, killing 20 people onboard. eric wortham works for the naval institute and wrote a book on the world's combat ships. he said by sending subs to the east coast. >> they're showing our submar e submarines are still viable, our ships are powerful. and this is why you can still view russian weapons as something you can purchase. >> reporter: russian subs haven't been this close to the u.s. coast in over ten years. >> there's abeffon effort to pr

force around the world. >> i tell you no one is alarmed by it because nobody is. >> reporter: this is about making money, not war. india used to buy planes from russia but inked a $2 billion for the seller of this aircraft, the seller, american company, boeing. >> russia is concerned that foreign customers are not looking to them anymore as a leader in the export market. >> these subs are in international rat waters and paf regular control. india is releasing two of the subs with the option to buy. joe, kiran. >> chris lawrence, thank you so much. 30 minutes past the hour. we check our top stories. memo to republicans, president obama wants your support on health care. with or without it, though, there will be a system overhauled by year's end. president out on msnbc at some point he may consider an

alternative course to buy pauy partisanship. failure is not an option. according to triple a, the average national for a gallon of gasoline is now up. $2.61. that's up 2.5 cents overnight. the price increasing for the 16th straight day. aerosmith front man steve tyler taken to the hospital overnight after falling at a concert. a fan said the 61-year-old singer fell off the stage backwards after trying to entertain a crowd after a sound system went out. the hospital is not releasing any information on his condition. it's good to be bill clinton after bringing two american journalists back from north korea, the former president is back in the spotlight and ready to do more for the current president who called to say thanks for the rescue mission. >> i didn't have a lengthy conversation. the main message i wanted to send him was thank you on behalf

of obviously the families but also the american people for resolve what was a humanitarian ordeal. >> so what can we expect from bill clinton? john harris is author of "the survivor -- bill clinton in the white house." the editor in chief and co-founder of politico.com. he join us from washington. you know from flying around with bill clinton back in the day, he wanted to be on the world stage then. what does it mean for him now? >> i think, joe, we did log a lot of miles in those years. i remember it well. bill clinton would very much like to be an active participant in american efforts around the world. and to do that, he needs barack obama's support. his people made it clear he'd be happy to do more such of these missions in the future if they're asked and they can be helpful and i think he's delighted to do it. whether the west wing is delighted to give him more time is not clear yet.

>> there's talk about president clinton's legacy. it is evolving. what will this trip do for him now? >> it is a reminder that bill clinton is a substantial presence on the world stage. he's widely respected. in -- by many foreign governments and people around the world. domestically his reputation got scuffed up a little bit in the tough democratic primary contest in the winner of 2008. but i don't think his reputation got scuffed up internationally. >> what's the benefit for the united states government now that president clinton is back on the world stage in a big way? do you expect to see this administration really using him again? or is there still some uneasiness if you will? >> look, joe, i don't think that bill clinton or for that matter any expresident will be likely roving ambassador at large around the world. that's a confusing message and i don't think it's one that barack obama or any president would

want. sort of a impeding presence representing the united states. but this is a great example of how it can be helpful to use the expresident. bill clinton was there as a private citizen. he was there at the instruction of the u.s. government. but it worked for the knot cono koreans. they were looking for a high level presence. they got it. the united states government can say, look, this was separate from the negotiations that we were having with north korea and the other issues. >> does he upstage his wife who happens to be the secretary of state? >> you know, i honestly don't think she's that concerned about it. she's got the job she wants, a better job than she expected after losing the primary battle a year ago. briefly -- bill clinton is -- he's still an outside personality and he can grab it when ever he wants it. but he has no interest in upstaging his wife.

i don't think she's that concerned about it. >> give some sense of why president clinton would go over there and the obama administration would essentially pretend, if it were, that, hey, we don't have anything to do with this. is it basically risk management? >> well, look, north korea is one of the most isolated regimes on the planet. the obama administration does not want to reward bad behavior by giving the north koreans what they want, high-level engagement with the u.s. government. that sends a bad message. can make a symbolic gesture by sending bill clinton over there. this was their suggestion and their urging. and two journalives who didn't belong in prison are able to come home safely. that's a good bargain in the calculation of the obama administration. and hillary clinton herself was close in monitoring this situation of these detained journalists for several weeks

now. >> john harris, thanks so much for coming in this morning. great to sue you again. >> see you soon. >> you bet. how about this one. you buy your dream house in ft. myers, a luxury condo. 32 stories up. you find out, no one else lives there -- literally. >> 32 stories. >> look at this thing. what if you were the only condo -- the only people living in the condo. >> that's crazy. >> it's happening. people are trying to get out. john zarrella tells the story of why they're stuck there. >> twilight zone. >> 36 minutes past the hour.

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♪ hello is there anybody in there ♪ ♪ just not if you can hear me ♪ is there anyone home ♪ come on >> there you go. >> love that pink floyd. >> that's not our news room, by the way. that's -- that's -- >> it's empty. >> that's the cnn money team. they get in a little later, you know, all right. >> that's fine. it may sound like a dream come true, but it's not, is it?

>> vacation home with a pool, river view, no noisy neighbors. >> there's one problem for this family, there are no neighbors. they're the only people living in a 32-story tower. now they want out. john zarrella explains. >> ah, yes. resort living. at the pool, there's always a chair. >> your own private gym with state of the art equipment and you can work out all by yourself. there's nobody here to bother you. look at this parking grab inini. you never have to hunt for a space. and when you get on the elevator, you never have to worry about anybody getting off first. sounds great, right? maybe you should talk to victor. >> this is our condo on the seventh floor. >> reporter: this was going to be victor's and his family's vacation and retirement home in the oasis, a 32 story condominium building in ft.

myers, florida. the new jersey fireman close in november, paid $430,000. >> i tell people at home. they say it's your own building. sounds great. kit be eerie. like a horror movie. >> reporter: why? because the rest of the building is empty. this is a ghost tower. when the housing market collapsed, ft. myers got hit hard. most of the units never sold. those that did -- the owners were able to move to the sister tower next door where there are people. but victor's lender won't agree to let him swap his unit here for one there. >> i called them up a couple of times. i got the law department and they told me don't leave the unit. they recommended that's abandonment. so i have to stay here. >> reporter: his attorney and developer are trying to negotiate a solution. nothing yet. victor's biggest concern -- safety. someone got in to the building a month ago. now every night, he checks the building's locks.

>> i have to make sure, yeah, because if i don't? what happens is they can get to the pool area through the parking garage. >> his family has no idea how this will work out. but what's really starting to bother them is that the eerie silence. when the only other voice they hear is -- >> door's opening. >> reporter: john zarrella, cnn, ft. myers, florida. >> zarrella should move in. he was having a good time. >> it would be perfect if you don't like people. >> crazy. >> well -- i -- >> i like people. >> i like people. >> it's unbelievable to see whether or not. whether or not they'll let him move to the other one. >> it's -- >> and then be completely empty. and then you'd be worried about vandals. >> well, this family's job isn't to keep the whole 32-story tower safe. we watch, got goose bumps, teared up when we watched euna lee reunited with 4-year-old hannah, right there, not seeing

her mother for four months. her family said she cried every night wanting her mom to come home. more about what it's been like for little hannah. a great deal gets even better. let us recycle your older vehicle and you could qualify for an additional $3500 or $4500 cash back on a new, more fuel-efficient chevy. your chevy dealer has more eligible models to choose from. more than ford, toyota, or honda. now get an '09 cobalt for under fifteen-five after all offers. and get it for even less if you qualify for cash for clunkers program. go to chevy.com for details.

good morning, beantown. welcome back to the most news in the morning. a live look at boston thanks to our friends at whgh. it's 66 going up to 81.

going to be mostly sunny there. i was there a couple of weeks ago. raining cats and dogs. looks good right now. >> nice blue skies this morning for boston. how about that. tomorrow will be 200 days of the obama administration. and here at cnn, we're asking for people to get their grade, how do you think the administration is doing on some of the key issues like foreign policy, the economy, other big things, health care reform. and we want to show you how you can do it on our website, cnn.com/reportcard. go to the site. up on the lap top here. you take a look -- question one -- grade the obama administration's handling of the economy. there's a little small primer here about what's gone on in the past 200 days. the stimulus bill plans to shore up the banks, helping out the autos. and here is an overview of what people have said, whether or not they think the economy is starting to recover. you can read any of this that you want to and give a grade. >> so it's like a cool on-line

poll sort of. >> we want to know what people are thinking. we ask this of everybody on our team, the best contributors as well. you select a grade. here i am, selecting b. of course, it worked before, b plus or b minus, you want to do b minus, there you go. give your state. let's pop down here to new york. i should have just gone with alabama. and there you go. click on your state and check out new york right here and see how people in new york think. overall, a c-plus. this is neat. you can do it for some of the other questions. >> do we know whether it gives you final totals or do you have to wait for the show tonight. >> i think you can. throw your grade up there. but we want you to weigh in. a little further down, you can sound off giving some of your opinions and comments as well. it's pretty cool. >> it is cool. >> you take part and get your voice heard as well is what you

think. >> on-line interactive. >> that's right. cnn.com/reportcard. a mother and child reunion that had a nation in tears. euna lee back from north korea back from four months in captivity and back in the arms of a 4-year-old daughter. a look through the eyes of a child. re ♪ ♪ now all they let me have is this dinosaur ♪ ♪ hello hello hello can anybody hear me? ♪ ♪ i know i know i know i shoulda gone to ♪ ♪ free credit report dot com! ♪ that's where i shoulda gone! coulda got my knowledge on! ♪ ♪ vo: free credit score and report with enrollment in triple advantage. s that make every day special. fancy feast introduces an entirely new way to celebrate any moment. fancy feast appetizers. simple high quality ingredients like wild alaskan salmon,

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. welcome back to the most news in the morning. 51 minutes past the hour. there was barely a dry eye coast to coast as americans watched the two freed journalists, laura ling and euna lee reunite with their families. it was the little loved one, euna lee's 4-year-old daughter, hannah who stole the show and stole our hearts at the same time. jeanne moos has a kid's idea of an emotional mother and child reunion. >> reporter: getting a ride from dad who was himself shaking with nervous energy, peering like a deer in the headlights at humongous hangar doors opening to reveal a glistening plane that you're told is carrying

your mother. >> what strikes me is watching that little girl. >> reporter: the women coming home were the news where the kids meeting their mom like a star. >> their adorable 4-year-old daughter hannah. >> reporter: adorable hannah. swept up by her mom, threeway hugs, four-way hugs. her hair caressed while she played with her mother's ponytail. what did she think her mother was? >> at work? >> she knows she's at china or korea. just knows she's at work. >> reporter: instead of clinging to a purple unicorn, suddenly mom was there to cling to. >> hannah says it all, doesn't she? >> reporter: oo. >> good to see it. >> i wanted to cry watching euna see her daughter. >> reporter: they nuzzled, they rocked, they whispered. will she some day remember she was smiled upon by former president clinton? oblivious to the hug from former vice president gore.

she used to draw pictures, starring her mother. while her mom was away, she drew this -- >> she drew a picture and i was a center and it was just her and i she didn't include her mother which made me sad. >> reporter: looking ate from a kid's eye view, what's going through the head of a 4-year-old whose mother disappeared for 4 1/2 months. we asked the child psychologist. >> you have a lot of ambivalence around the absence of that parent. you're terrified they may not come back. angry that they've been away. >> reporter: even the excitement of homecoming can be a yawn. >> we could feel your love -- >> reporter: when hannah's mom was away. >> will mommy be home in a couple of days or soon or i'll do this when mommy gets here. >> reporter: she's here. forehead to forehead, cheek to cheek. jeanne moos, cnn, new york. >> wow, what a moment. >> i know. poor little thing, you know? four months without her mom and

then that big public reunion. she handled it with a lot of grace. >> gets you right in the throat. >> it does. it does. >> in other news, we're tracking where your stimulus dollars are going. the money was supposed to go to so-called shovel-ready projects. but too much red tape slowing things down. 54 minutes after the hour. when you think about all you can do in an all-wheel-drive subaru... you'll find there is a lot to love. that's why we created the subaru a lot to love event. where you can get a great deal on any new 2009 subaru. and see theee really is a lot to love. hurry in and lease a 2009 impreza for $179 ppr month. now through august 31st.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. the two american journalists freed from captivity in north korea say they're looking forward to some quiet time with their families. you watched it unfold live here on "american morning." laura ling and euna lee were reunited with their loved ones yesterday after being held for four months. laura's sister lisa ling was asked about the president's mission to pyongyang. moving on, we're going to talk about the stimulus highway plan. a lot of people have been thinking that shovel-ready projects were the way to go. and that's what the obama administration has been pushing for a long time. but the question is whether these projects have been moving just a little bit too slowly. >> reporter: your stimulus dollars at work, sealing cracks and replacing concrete slabs on

new york's southern state parkway, the first stimulus-funded highway project to break ground on long island. cost -- $1.7 million. that should be music to the ears of mark hurt, head of the long island contractors' association. but it may surprise you to hear this. >> here we are in the heart of the construction season and 40% of the workforce here on long island is not working. we haven't seen construction that low in the workforce in decades. and the stimulus program hasn't put the people back to work at this point. >> nearly six months after president obama signed the stimulus bill, complaints that transportation dollars are only trickling down. >> generally, too much red tape? >> too much red tape. and by the time we get to work and the money flows and gets here, we're going to be in the dead of winter. shovel-ready now, we won't be able to put the shovel in the icy ground. >> reporter: he's not alone. sherry moore runs a construction

company that won a stimulus bid to replace this aging bridge in pennsylvania. >> has to be redesigned, perm permits, environmental clearances, get the utilities. get to the agency and get their approvals. >> reporter: but, what, transportation officials insist recovery money is moving faster than ever. in new york, they say, it created 900 highway jobs. >> the recovery act funding is going out. people will see their dollars at work. from my perspective, what will happen next is the motorists on long island will be complaining about all of the construction. >> reporter: and in washington, the secretary of transportation says that the focus is not only on speed. >> we want to get it out quickly, but we want to make sure it's done by the book. no earmarks, boone dogs, sweetheart deals. >> reporter: but the question is, are all the checks and balances causing a stimulus slowdown? now, d.o.t. estimates every $1 billion in transportation spending will create 11,000

jobs. b contractors warn, if more money doesn't hit the ground soon, especially in northern states, that ground and job creation could very well be frozen until next construction season. and that's kate baldwin in washington. thanks so much. >> sure. it is 7:00 right at the top of the hour. and it is thursday morning right here in new york. and around the world. >> that's right. >> i'm joe johns in for john roberts. >> i'm kiran chetry. we have a lot going on this morning. the big stories in the next 15 minutes. one of the big things we're talking about today, the president approaching 200 days in office. we bring you some numbers showing how americans think he's doing. a new cnn opinion research corporation poll showing his job approval rating 56%, down seven points since the 100-day mark in late april. plus, a killer's on-line diary hinting a's his hatred for women who wouldn't give him the

time of day before he walked into a gym class with four loaded guns. details about the gym massacre and the man behind it. is secretary of state hillary clinton being overshadowed by her husband, bill. we asked those questions before. everybody saw the high-profile arrival after he helped with the rescue of the two journalists who are in north korea for months. she, of course, is america's top diplomat and has a key place in obama administration. carol costello is going to be breaking it down for us live from washington. a special edition of "american morning." we take an in depth look at the obama administration as he approaches the 200 days in office. that's part of the cnn national report card. there's research corporation polls out this morning. one of them -- how do you think the president is handling his job? 56% approve, 40% disapprove. it's down seven points in the last 100 days. and in each hour, we're breaking down some of the key issues that the white house is trying to tackle.

last hour we talked about the economy. we'll touch on that. 8:00, foreign policy. this hour, we're talking about health care and health care reform. over the next 60 minutes, staying on top of the day's headlines. first, though, august shaping up to be a make or break month for the president's health care reform measures. the best political team on televisi television is with us. including candy crowley. we're breaking down the nuts and bolts of all of this. one of the things that people are curious about. we look at the dip in approval ratings, how much of it is tied to the big debate about what's going on with health care. >> health care is so personal. they have a story. they know somebody affected by the debate. people are so passionate about this. one of the things we're seeing here in terms of health care. what's the plan? nobody knows what the plan is. there are general principles about slowing down health care costs and insuring as many americans as possible. four out of the five committees have something in the mix. the senate is still working on something.

crafting something, it's been delayed. this is intentional by the president. he wants to put it in the hands to congress to come up with the details. another question is universal health care. how many people are going to be insured? and the third issue is who's going to pay for this? and that's been the huge debate. that's been the big thing that the white house has been really struggling here with members of congress. how do we pay for this mammoth 1 trillion ten-year deal that they're trying to overhaul the system. candy knows that there's a pledge that the president made, $250,000 if you make no new taxes. how is he going to fulfill that campaign pledge that pledge that he's made as president? how is hess going to raise the money? that's one of the issues that we're looking at. >> yes, and i think part of the problem here is that you can't really tax the rich forever. i mean, at some point, you're going to get past a level where you can do it. so there is a place where you're going to have go and look for money and everybody understands. and there's also a larger problem with health care.

poll after poll shows the vast majority of americans think it's not going to help them. so the president has got to get out there. it will help you. here's how. he's trying that. we've seen that in the last couple of trips he's made. >> miscalculations. did he bite off more than he could chew by going after this and everything else right out of the blocks. what about going to congress as opposed to trying to give them a plan and say work around these parameters? >> i think on the first, that he had no choice but to go. it's such a big issue. you have to do it when you're at the peak of your popularity. honestly, it's only down from here for any president. you can't say, as we see, at 60 plus percent approval ratings. if you're going to go big, you have to go soon. and that's certainly what he's done. as far as how he's dealt with congress, it's tried and true, it does happen to be as suzanne mentioned, his style. here my broad parameters, you guys going to do your thing.

i see other presidents doing this. what do you get? you say, hey, this is exactly what i wanted. so, it's not looking like a defeat no matter what it is. i still think regardless of all we're seeing and what's going on in the polls, that at the end of the day, at the end of the year, this president will have something that says health care reform on it. he will claim it as his, sign it, move on to the next thing. >> that's the other question. this is interesting. he seemed to indicate on another program that perhaps bipartisanship could go out the window if it meant trying to get something back. he said he'd like republicans onboard. if not, it's going to happen anyway. how does that affect president obama given that, you know, he was seen as postpartisan during the running that made him so excited. >> it caused a problem. it's not an accident that he invited three republicans, three democrats of the senate finance committee to the white house this morning to talk about the issue. he wants to make this bipartisan. if it's not, it's okay. if he gets something past,

that's the main goal. he wants to be seen as the unifier. one thing is the town hall meetings that are exploding, erupting, people are passionate, emotional about this. one dnc ad calling it a mob mentality. he said this is the height of arrogance. people should go out there, passionate about this, they should make their views known. this is something that the white house has to control a little bit. they have to understand that this is an emotional issue and they have to get the message out that it's not about a debate over, you know, numbers and congress and process. but understand what people are going through. and it's not surprising michael steele being the president a grade of d-plus. -- d-minus. >> i figured he would have given him an a. >> not a surprise. >> great. all right. thank you so much, suzanne and candy. and we'll talk back to you. and how do you think the president is doing on health

care? what about a the economy? you can grade your leaders. cast your vote an cnn..com/report card. get the results with the best political team on television. it's cnn's national report card tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. there's disturbing new details this morning about the man behind the fitness club shooting massacre. police say george sodini brought four handguns in a l.a. fa fitn outside of pittsburgh using three of them, firing 36 rounds killing three women he did not know. according to the on-line diary, that was his plan, revenge for not being able to get a date for decades. susan candiotti is in a town where the ticking time bomb was sounding alarms, as we see in these cases, alarms no one heard. >> reporter: it's so sad. the police are now saying that the gunman went in and out of the gym at least twice on tuesday and then made a mystery call to someone before pulling the trigger on his final try.

george sodini, 48. the guy with the bright smile had a good job but couldn't get a girlfriend. it was one of the things that seemed to push him over the edge. >> clearly he was full of blame. he blamed everybody for his problems. >> reporter: in an internet blog that appears to have started last november, sodini rails against his mother, family, and women for making him miserable. an entry dated last december reads -- "no girlfriend since 1984. who knows why? i'm not ugly or too weird." sodini was a computer specialist for a pittsburgh law firm. at home, he kept to himself. >> went to work, came back. hardly ever seen him around. very quiet. >> reporter: inside, he appears to be seething. in his blog, he singles out a preacher in a church he used to atend. this guy teaches and convinced me you can commit mass murder and then still go to heaven. he joins the gym, ogles the

women. >> all these young, beautiful, attractive, healthy, fit women at the health clubl. so he specifically chose the health club not just a random spot, to go after the people hi blamed. >> reporter: he devises what he called the exit plan but backs out last january. i chickened out. i brought the loaded guns, everything, hell! over the next several months, sodini's rants continue about women and the gym. at home, police say he circles the gym's aerobics class on a schedule. >> he had a lot of hatred in him and he was hell-bent on committing this act. and there was nothing going to stop him. >> reporter: tuesday, he goes to the gym twice. makes a phone calm, and then returns a final time. >> he's a mad man. >> reporter: 36 rounds. three women dead, and a shot to his head. as you look at the flowers left behind by family, friends, and strangers, there's a huge

sense of loss and a statement issue bid the gunman's family offering prayers for victims and survivors. kiran? >> susan candiotti for us outside of pittsburgh this morning. thanks. also new this morning, her husband made big news yesterday for the work rescuing two american journalists. now it's secretary of state hillary clinton's turn. she says committed to the to et nairobi this morning. and we sit down with a one-on-one with secretary clinton from nairobi and will air this weekend. cash for clunkers getting a refill. the popular rebate plan that's such a hit ran out of money gets a jump start from the senate today. they agree to vote for an additional $2 billion to keep funding plan until labor day. good news for new car customers who want to trade in their gas guzzlers. a little later, which clunker models are getting trade in the most. how about the best college in the country according to

"forbes" magazine? it is not harvard, prince ton, yale, it is -- west point. there you go. the u.s. military academy beat out the ivy leagues for the quality education and also the amount of debt students graduate with. tuition, by the way, is fully funded by the army and exchanged for service after graduation. so congrats. a big salute to west point. >> sign up? get something good out of it. >> it's a beautiful campus. west point. >> yeah, it is. which nfl quarterback named manning is the highest player in football. if you said peyton, you lost. >> his little brother now upstaging big brother. former super bowl mvp eli manning has reportedly agreed he's sitting down to a six-year, $97 million contract extension that's an average salary of $15.3 million a year. >> is that all? >> no. >> eli led the giants to one of the biggest upsets in super bowl history over the undefeated new england patriots in 2008. >> our producer ed is still

crying about that one. being a big patriot fan. >> oh well. >> oh well. >> i think something like $30 million of that is guaranteed. it's football so -- >> it's amazing. >> doing great. >> it's right up there with what you make. >> yeah, okay. knock off several zeros. i have to tell you, talk about the pressure. he's got to get out there and make it happen. >> yeah. or else. >> all right. meanwhile, we love congressman ron paul. he's a fresh perspective about the things that are happening in the world. guess what? his son is now throwing his hat in the ring. he's a doctor but wants to be senator as well. we're going to talk to rand paul as welcoming up.

welcome back to the most news in the morning.

president obama gets set for the 200th day on the job. here at cnn, a presidential performance review with the best political team on television. we're asking you to grade the president's performance on the top priorities like health care. joining us from washington now, dr. christina johns, an e.r. specialist at children's national medical center and former president of american red cross and health editor for "the "u.s. news & world report."" there's a poll -- cnn research opinion poll on july 31 to august 3. it questions major changes to make sure all americans have health insurance. you can see the numbers right there, 77% say it's not necessary. 21% say it is necessary. we have another one we want to show you as well. cnn corporation poll says how many people are satisfied with your health insurance. 74% say yes. 23% say no. so, those are the front lines in

politics right now. if you look across the country, they say they are satisfied. the question, really, is whether the president made the case for universal coverage. i'll ask you first, dr. johns? >> i think if we're going to have a health care system, everybody's got to be in it. what i see as a practicing physician out there in the front lines every day are people who are waiting way too long to seek health care because they're worried about how much they're going to have to spend out of pocket or they don't have health insurance. and that is a big problem. people are showing up sicker, they are using more resources. and it's not sustainable. we've got to make sure that people are adequately -- not just covered, but adequately covered. it doesn't stop there. once they're adequately covered they have the right access to care. we are ensuring that people are getting the right care at the right time and the right place by the right person. >> now, dr. healey, i talked to

you before in washington many times. and you noa wa very well. the president has left so much up to the congress, didn't give them a lot of parameters, sort of tell them, okay, this is what i'm thinking. is this the way to go? do you think congress can get it done given the fact that congress can get sort of chaotic? >> i think the president's team has been very much involved meeting with congress, meeting in the behind door sessions. so i think he may not be speaking the details but he simply knows them and he's very much behind them. but i think the important issue speaking to your poll is that insurance is the problem. there's been complete unanimity in that we have a problem with insurance. you know something, there's a secret that nobody is talking about. and that is, the biggest wind falls to insurance companies will be the current health reform bill. they will be delivering up $1 trillion to $2 trillion over ten

years over insurance companies. so all that money we talked about coming out of medicare, coming out of tax dollars, surcharges, whatever. they're going to go to insurance companies. they love this bill. >> when we talk about money, we have to talk about the deficit. the deficit could be huge, as high as $1.8 trillion this year. let's listen to what the president said just yesterday. >> if it's deficit neutral, if it's instituting the kinds of reforms that will improve quality and reduce costs, then that's what i want. >> now, come on, can he do that, i guess, is the question, dr. johns. if you want to jump in as well, dr. healey? >> you know, i think that we've got to take a step back and look at this in not just in the kind of statement, but the balance sheet. we need to -- we need to look at the long-term investment in making our american people well. and more healthy, getting less sick. that's really how we need to

think about this. going forward. i think that there are -- are there realtime short term costs that can be painful that everybody may have to give a little bit? you bet. but as a practicing physician, thinking about my career and what's going to be best for my patients, for me, my practice, i think it's something that we've got to move towards. >> all right, so, let's hold on. get across this break. going to ask each of you to give me the gray for the president for the second 100 days. after this.

back on "american morning" with the president's second 100

days. 200 days in office for mr. obama. dr. christina johns or bernadine healey. i want to ask you for a grade. starting with you, dr. healey. what do you think the president has done? if you could tell us where you think he stands as far as grades go. >> i get an a for effort, absolutely. but in terms of providing the american public with solid information, with details with what he in the congress are wanting to accomplish and what their lives will look like after this particular -- this particular reform package. we need reform. but this particular reform package will mean to them, i think there's been observation. i have to give him a c, i would give him a b but i'm an easy grader. >> the former educator at the -- >> johns hopkins, ohio state. i've graded a lot. >> you bet. christina johns, what do you think? is it a grade?

>> grading on the curve? changes up the playing field a little bit. it's hard for me to make this assignment an a, b, c, or d. we all pass or we all fail. but i agree with dr. healy. if you have to break it down, certainly an a for effort, i think the commitment to what those principles are, this is a hard job tackling it early is smart and i think we all know where -- where the president stands. in terms of the execution and how this is going, it's such a wide spectrum of opinion. such a hot topic. for everybody that with polarizing opinions and views. i think that an average score of -- i don't know if he could do any better. certainly could be doing worse. about average. >> all right, thank you so much for coming in. and we'll have the second 100 days of the obama administration. how they've been doing. have they been days of change or days of frustration? let your voice be heard.

cast your vote at cnn.com/report card. get the results from cnn's national report card tonight at 8:00 eastern. >> it's a matter of time before they start asking this question after the big high-profile rescue that took place of the two journalists, laura ling and euna lee all at the hands of our president. is he upstaging the wife, the current secretary of state? >> you have to have the clinton draw drama if you have the clintons. it's that way. >> carol costello joining us live. 24 minutes past the hour.

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when you think about all you can do in an all-wheel-drive subaru... you'll find there is a lot to love. that's why we created the subaru a lot to love event. where you can get a great deal on any new 2009 subaru. and see theee really is a lot to love. hurry in and lease a 2009 impreza for $179 ppr month. now through august 31st. welcome back to the most news in the morning. 28 minute past the hour right now. look at the top stories. police are looking for a suspicious woman in the case of missing british girl madeline mccann. a witness told police he talked to, quote, victoria beck hamm look alike and the witness said

the woman revealed new clues. a woman was seen in barcelona, spain within three days of the little girl's disappearance. madeline mccann has been missing since may 3, 2007. the pentagon is keeping his eye on two subs in international waters off of the east coast. but the spokesman adds it doesn't cause any alarm within this building. they say it's business as usual. the fbi found $90,000 in his freezer, now a lawyer for congressman william jeffords said a louisiana democrat will appeal a conviction against him. he's found guilty of taking $400,000 in bribes and getting millions from shady business deals in africa. the former congressman could face more than 20 years in prison. it took a former president to bring journalist laura ling and euna lee back home from north korea. that has some in the world

asking is bill clinton overshadowing his wife, the secretary of state >> carol costello tracking the reaction. if you're watching that unfold, it's a matter of time before they start, you know, criticizing and questioning what's going on with the clintons. >> i know, it didn't take long, did it? the story with an incredibly happy ending has become another chapter in the continuing clinton soap opera. >> reporter: it was a kodak moment -- the best time, and the man who made it possible -- >> when we walked and through the doors, we saw standing before us president bill clinton. >> a rescuing angel who back for the other kodak moment with the man some call the devil and brought two americans home safely. not only that, but some are saying mr. clinton's visit may also pave the way to a nuclear-free north korea. it wasn't long before the hillary question came up. >> now, where is hillary?

the real secretary of state is in kenya. why go to kenya unless you've been ordered to go over there and kiss obama's grandfather's grave. is north korea too important to send the girl? >> reporter: hillary clinton, america's secretary of state is in africa on a diplomacy mission, important, yes. but as "the new york times" columnist marine dowd writes, mr. clinton's mission trumps her. as mill larry muscles her way back in to the spotlight, she was blown off the radar screen again by an even more powerful envoy -- the one she lives with. the overshadowing question comes after concerns just last month that president obama was overshadowing secretary clinton by meeting with world leaders himself and by sending vice president joe biden to iraq. clinton supporters say that wasn't true. and the latest overshadowing charge isn't either. >> i don't think bill clinton would overshadow secretary clinton. in fact, if that were to be the case, i'm sure he would have not done it.

>> reporter: william cohen, president clinton's defense secretary, says mr. clinton not only worked closely with president obama to free the journalists, but he worked with his wife, the secretary of state too. and besides, many analysts say this was the kind of mission more suited to former presidents. >> the north koreans want add high level envoy and it was clear that it couldn't be somebody currently in government. so there were only several people imaginable. bill clinton, al gore, bill richardson, and the north koreans got the top banana, which is what they wanted. >> reporter: and it worked. for laura ling and euna lee, that's all that matters. many are wondering, joe, if president obama will use president clinton more in this sort of role. larry sabato says yes, but rarely because it's a problem. and who's running the state department, something both president obama and secretary

clinton want to avoid. >> that's for sure. thanks so much there, carol costello, this morning. so one father no longer has to tell his little girl, mommy i 's away on a business trip. seems like a priceless thing. but some of the am fix callers want to know who put up the cash for this mission. >> reporter: they were trying to get a scoop on the story and crossed the line knowing -- i mean, they're from there -- they know what they were doing. and why is their family paying for this bill? is it a tax bill? what is the exact cost? and, who is paying for that? >> well, it wasn't the family paying the bill. steven bing, owner of the jet company president clinton used to pick up the tab which was, by the way, about $200,000. kiran? okay, 32 minutes past the hour. you may have heard the phrase, like father like son, but ron paul is ringing more true. not only is his third child, rand, a physician.

but yesterday he announced he's running for a republican senate seat in kentucky. why is son following dad in to the political arena? rand paul joins me on set. we're going to meet with your dad, ron paul, congressman from texas. but first, welcome. thanks for being on the show. we've had your dad here a lot. you've been a doctor for years. you founded a tax fairness organization in kentucky. why throw your hat in the ring for the u.s. senate? >> i'm worried about the country, the debt, i'm worried about what the debt will lead to. rampant inflation and higher prices. we can't borrow our way to prosperi prosperity. there are serious times for this country. recession now with high unemployment now. what's going to happen when we have high unemployment with the stores -- the prices in the store begin to rise. you can't just run a deficit of this level. it's an historic deficit and it's getting worse. the career politicians on both sides of the issue -- both sides

of the aisle, republican and democrat, have been unwilling and are afraid to address the deficit and someone's got to. >> it's interesting that you say that because your dad's been in congress for years and years. you could say even though he marches to the beat of his own drum that he's a career politician. can you do more good in private sphere than you can in public life sometimes? >> he was a physician for 20 years like myself. you need people outside of government. if your primary goal is to continue your career, you tend to do things that are good for you, but not necessarily good for the country. and, for example, the way our system works around the country is that people bring back spending projects. and it seems to be free. for example, with the stimulus project, my little town they brought $1 million to, republicans and democrats clapped their hands and said we have $1 million but no one asked the hard question -- where did it come from? did we have to borrow it from china, japan, or foreign country? is that good for our country to

go further and further in debt to build a new ballpark or a parking garage. we have to understand where the money is coming from. debt leads to inflation. they print the money to pay for the debt. you ultimately will pay for it through higher prices. who pays the higher prices? the working class. and those on fixed income. in a year, if you're paying $8 for your milk, will you be happy that you got $1 million for your town? >> how do you explain that when you go out there and you said you sort of hit the dieners and talked to people and let them know how you feel and you said the stimulus is a bad idea. you think the bank bailout was a mistake. >> right. >> but there are many in the republican party who felt for the bailout that it was necessary and voted for it. >> i tell people, you look at problems for our economy the way you look at them personally. i have a lot of older patients, grand kids come to me and say, would you borrow money to buy a gift for your grand kid? no, you pay for gifts out of your savings but you don't borrow money to give people cash for clunkers. i don't know how you get rich as

a country by borrowing money and giving it to people and say go to the mall and spend it and somehow we're supposed to be richer as a country. >> bring in your dad. you sound like one of our favorite guests, congressman ron paul. what did you think when your son said, hey, i'm going to try to join you, dad, in congress. >> i wasn't too surprised. he's been interested in politics for a long time. he's had his own tax groups. i think the family sort of expected that he would be the first one to get to politics like this. it wasn't too much of a surprise. i was pleased. >> one of the things that we talked about are people who want to do more for themselves. they want to continue to get elected. what are some of the lessons you want to explain to them that you have all of the ideas, you think they make sense and you butt up against the brock sip in washington and oftentimes as you've seen yourself, things that you fight for don't necessarily get accomplished. >> i think the most important thing i try to convey to myself,

others, and to the kids is that don't go with conventional wisdom. if you go with conventional wisdom and the usual advisors, they're about ten or 15 years behind the people. and i think that's what you're sensing with the town hall meetin meetings. the people are way ahead -- the people are way ahead of us in washington on the drug war and foreign policy and they're expressing themselves on the spending and the medical care. it's -- marching to your own tune because, you know, and listening to the people. i think that is where you can go wrong. you can't go wrong. people, though, in a politician, they want to trust you. they want to like you and they want to trust you. but it's up to the politician who's running to stand for something and that's what energizes your base, your supporters, and raising your money. but i think too many politicians don't have a whole lot they really see and really believe in. i think that's what's been what's energized our base. >> i want to ask you about this, rand. you're a doctor.

what are you hearing from the front lines meaning people about whether or not health care reform is a good idea. >> they're afraid of losing their choices. they titled the act, "the free choice health care act." the more benign-sounding the title the more ominous the contents within the health care bill. it will limit your choices. you won't be able to buy government-approved insurance, pages 16 through 19. and that worries people. people also see the reports like from england where there's a breast cancer drug called herceptin that blocks the estrogen receptors. it's not available in england because it's too expensive. i'm in the business of eye surgery and eye disease. one of the common diseases of the eye are abnormal blood vessels that grow in the back of the eye called macular degeneration. we inject a drug for that. in england, you had to prove you were blind in one eye before they might could use it in the second eye. americans are afraid of losing their choices. problems in health care, but the main problem is expense, not

access. if you add a lot of new people to it, you're going to add expense but haven't changed things. >> i'm going to ask you, the overall grade as we head to 200 days of the administration, we're asking all of our guests to give a grade. you guys weighed in. how do you think this administration has done overall? >> well, not very well. i'd probably give them a d. he deserves an f, but i give him a "d" to make one point. he's not responsible for this mess. this has been going on for a long time. the last administration has a lot to do with this. the congress has a lot to do with it. but what he's failing is the system. the idea that the government is an economic planner, that inflationism is good, the planned economy is worthwhile, this foreign policy is a good idea. that's what's wrong. nobody in the presidency could manage the country. and so the task is impossible. so i would say he's failing but he doesn't deserve all of the blame. and i think we have to look at what our country is up to, what

we believe in and whether the constitution is worth following and whether free markets is what we need. we need the government out of the way. we don't need a better manager. so for that reason, i give them a d. but i think the system is still failing. >> all right, let's hear from your son. you weren't as generous as your dad? >> i would say an f. the main reason is i run for office because the debt is out of control. i was unhappy when the republicans were running $500 billion deficits in the year. we've tripled that in one year. this is an historic deficit. 13% of gross national product. spending is at 28% of gross national product. things are out of control. but there will be repercussions. you cannot borrow and borrow and borrow and print money to pay for this without repercussions and the repercussions will be higher prices in the grocery store. >> i want to thank you for coming on. great talking to you. congressman ron paul, great to have you on. proud of your son. doing a little campaigning for him as well as you guys take the

senate seat in kentucky. thanks for being with us this morning. >> joe? coming up, the cash for clunkers program. christine romans will be here "minding your business." and we're going to look at the cars that are traded in as well as the cars people are picking up. there may be some surprises in this story. some lunch.

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♪ it's a new day ♪ it's a new day >> a new day. looks like a little bit of hazy or misty day there in minneapolis, right? >> the land of the lakes. >> they say it's clear right now. maybe it's just -- maybe a little fog on the camera. >> sure looks like the emerald city in the weird sort of way. >> everything good about the new york city without the bad stuff there in minnesota. except it's freezing. not today, sunny and 80 degrees. not bad. find a winter home and you'll have a blast. christine romans join us. >> class for clunkers. >> these are the cars you're trading in. the national transportation safety board is telling us

you're turning in, the ford explorer four-wheel drive, the ford f-150, the jeep grand cherokee, the jeep cherokee, the dodge caravan and the grand caravan two-wheel drive. >> suvs. >> this is what you're turning your old clunker in for using up to $4500 to buy. little small fuel-efficient cars. the toyota corolla, the ford focus. say that ten times fast. you'll get in trouble on tv. the toyota prius and the toyota camry. >> do you see a trend? >> yes, we are. turning in the big american made trucks and suvs and buying all of the foreign-made cars. >> tired of paying all that money for gas. >> some of the manufacturers here in the united states or parts of them manufactured? >> that brings me to the romance numeral. 45%. >> we have a guess from one of our viewers. you said 45%, frank from santa clara said, is that how much the percentage of the american dollar going to pay for social

programs? i g >> i get a lot of that. no, the answer is this. 45% of your cash for clunkers money, cash for clunkers are going to american-made cars. the rest are foreign cars. that's what you're buying. so 45% of american-made cars, the big three, the rest are foreign cars. but you asked a very good point. of those foreign cars, half of them -- about half of them are manufactured in the united states. so a lot of people have been asking -- wait, where's our taxpayer money going to. are we using cash for clunkers stimulus money to put money in the pockets of foreign auto makers. yes, but some are made here. >> foreign made car made in the united states. >> no such thing as an american car though, right? >> that's what the programs are supposed to do. encourage people to buy and take nonfuel-efficient cars off of the road, hopefully being replaced with fuel-efficient cars. whether you're for the program or against it, whatever it's supposed to do, it's doing. >> 45% is the normal ratio

you're spending on american versus -- big three versus foreign automakers anyway. yeah, so, that's exactly right. >> christine, good to see you. 47 minutes past the hour. a look at what's coming up in the next 15 minutes. a check of the a.m. rundown. it is your turn to grade the president who's getting set to mark the 200th day in office. we want to weigh in on how you think he's performed so far. varying issues. health care, foreign affairs, there's also a big question about how you think the economy is going. so we're going to show you step-by-step how to do it on cnn's magic wall. yes, it is here. we saw the heart wrenching homecoming of two american journalists rescued from north korea after four months in captivity. what's next for the two women and how do they readjust after a trauma like that, getting back to normal. the emotion mall roller coaster they're facing and their families are facing right now. and special coverage of poth bama's milestone in office. how's he doing on foreign policy? this is my verizon small business specialist,

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welcome back, we've all been talking this morning about the president's second 100 days. how he's doing on all of the big issues of the day, and how do you get a chance to weigh in? you go to cnn.com/reportcard. once you're on the site, there's a series of questions. and here's question number one, how you think the president is

handling the economy. you get to put your grade in. a little bit of an overview on the stimulus plan, shoring up the banks. you get a chance to check out the polling. and here's where you go to vote, question, select the grade. say you think the economy's doing a b. click on that and do plus or minus, plug in quickly where you give, out of florida this morning, submit grade, and there you get to see your grade, you get to have your opinion as part of the entire package here and then you can check on various states and see maine overall believing it's a c. let's take minnesota, go down to florida, you can check out how people think they're doing and go back to the overview, you also get a chance to weigh in here at the bottom. where you get to sound off and you get to give your opinion. this is also on the website cnn.com/reportcard. and tonight at 8:00, we're going to get all of the results from the polling. and we want to make sure you get a chance to get your voice

heard. you can also weigh in on facebook, as well. pretty cool and you get a chance to tick through all of the questions. and i love this, you can also go here and talk about what you think about your own senators in your own states, give them a grade, as well. check out how people voted, there you go, the comment section, as well. pretty cool, cnn.com/reportcard. we tackle the big issues the president's taking on as he gets ready to complete his 200th day in office and what the best political team on television is saying about the performance. we're talking foreign policy this coming hour. experts and their grades are coming up. what do you think, have the second 100 days of the obama administration been days of change or frustration? your voice can be heard here, cnn.com/reportcard. and tonight, 8:00 p.m. eastern, see the results, including how you weighed in. and coming up, a report from chris lawrence about a russian

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. their long international nightmare now over. two american journalists are looking forward to quiet time with their families. you watched it live unfold. laura ling and euna lee being reunited with their loved ones. laura's sister was asked about their life in captivity. >> i think that they saw each other very early on for a couple of days in the beginning and then they were separated for the duration of the 4 1/2 months. so i think on the day of their trial, they hugged each other and that was it. one time on the phone, we only had four conversations, she said

would you please write a letter to euna and tell her i'm thinking about her and love her. >> she also said they were fed poorly and her sister was looking forward to fresh, healthy meals. family reunions can be difficult after extended periods of captivity or deployment. >> and you just saw especially on the face of her little daughter how hard it was for her and her daughter. we're talking about euna here. but in general, what kind of an effect an experience like that have had on the journalists in north korea for nearly five months? cnn's brian todd is looking at that. >> reporter: this part's pretty basic, an emotional embrace between euna lee and her 4-year-old daughter and a comment from lee's colleague what they want to do next. >> we are so anxious right now to be able to spend some quiet, private time getting reacquainted with our families. >> reporter: and that, experts

say, when the difficult work begins. lisa is a psychiatrist who dealt with sensitive family reunions. >> is there a point when it's most difficult when all of the attention ebbs in the days or a week after the reunion when all of the cameras are gone and all of the people are gone you turn to your spouse or child or both, there's this what now? >> well, yes, because all of the attention, when you come back, is a big distraction. so once that is pulled out of the picture, you really are faced again, you and the person you were married to or you have been with all of these years and had children with. and now you've got to kind of face the reality of what do we got going forward? who am i? what is my career? am i going back to my old job? or am i now a person on a mission? have i been transformed by this experience? and my spouse hasn't been transformed. >> reporter: divorce, she says

is common among families in these situations. they were held captive for 5 1/2 years by rebels in the jungle. in years since their release, they've all gone through divorces. he says he also suffered an initial physical reaction. after his first family encounter, a meeting with his father, he had a migraine. >> it was the emotion of joy i felt and the rush that i felt to cover so much lost time in such a short amount of time now, it was something that was difficult to deal with. >> reporter: there seems to be no set formula for readjustment. after being in prison for eight months in iran, he arrived home on a thursday, returned to work the following monday. >> i had to prove to myself that my jailer did not break my spirit nor my will. i had to prove to myself that it was the old me. >> reporter: lisa says the families of those returning have

to be flexible. families who do well in the readjustment period are those who take their cues from that returning relative and go at their pace. cnn washington. and good morning, it's thursday, august 6th. >> that's right, it is, we're coming up on 8:00 here in new york. thanks so much for being with us. good to have you with us this morning. >> a very special edition of american morning. >> it is, because it's nearly 200 days on the job for president obama. he's been dealing with a full plate of foreign policy issues. that's what we're tackling this hour in iraq, afghanistan, and iran. we have grand new numbers just out showing how americans think he's doing on the foreign policy front. plus we've got our best political team on television weighing in with how the image of the united states may be changing around the world. shades of the cold war, pentagon keeping its eye on two nuclear-powered russian subs. but officials are playing down any potential threat. the russian military says the

subs are in international waters on regular patrols. and the state that just called in the national guard, not because of natural disaster, but actually a financial disaster. we're live with the sheriff who says that his police department's been slashed so deeply he had to tap the guard. we begin, though, with president obama closing in on a big milestone, 200 days in office. and according to a corporation poll just out this morning, 56% of americans approve of the job he's doing. not bad, but it is actually down seven points since the 100-day mark in late april. all morning, our panel of experts has been grading the performance on three top priorities, the economy, a b and a b plus there, on health care, as for effort but c minus in incomplete when it comes to executing and this hour we're looking at foreign policy. no shortage of issues on that front, winding down the war in iraq to building it up again in afghanistan and two foreign policy experts standing by to

grade the president. in a moment, we'll talk to robin wright for the washington post. and william cohen, secretary of defense under bill clinton. and we're joined by the best political team on television. suzanne malveaux and senior political correspondent candy crowley joining us who also informed us that our desk looked like a huge mess and we needed to clean it up. the mom in candy coming out. she said it looked like a dorm room. but we've gotten ourselves together -- >> no beer. >> none at all. red bull, no beer. suzanne malveaux joins us to break it down for us. we talk about the big issues. he's got leaving iraq, winding that down, ramping up in afghanistan, and also focusing on iran. >> and obviously, the big campaign push was getting out of the war in iraq and that was something he's going to be able to do. and quite frankly he's doing what the bush administration had set up in terms of the schedule.

some people not happy about the number of troops still there, but that's something he's managed to do. iran is very complicated for this president as we know, ahmadinejad very unpredictable, protests and violence there. we have to manage that, and they weren't quite sure how to respond right away and they got much, much stronger as they realized that was an international situation. a lot of spotlight on that election. but he is going to have to deal with mahmoud ahmadinejad who they say has won this election. and finally, afghanistan, that is obama's war, we're seeing more and more u.s. soldiers go over there, more and more being killed. they're going to have the challenge of defining that mission and the exit strategy because they have said he's tried to be limited in taking on the taliban and al qaeda. but as we saw in iraq, it really became a breeding ground for people attracting al qaeda, attracting taliban to go after u.s. soldiers. we'll see if that happens in afghanistan and how he manages

to get out of that war. >> and candy right now, it really is a matter of the president taking ownership of this war in afghanistan that he wasn't on the watch board when it started. >> but he said all during the campaign he supported that war. so this isn't something that was knew to him. and i think a couple of things have happened that have helped him along in this score. there have been a lot of other things happening. and i think afghanistan to a certain extent was pushed out of the headlines even though as you know almost every day we get at least one other u.s. casualty. we have a soldier gone missing we know is in the hands of the taliban. the other thing is that when you look at iran, which suzanne was just talking about, i think it helped the administration that all of a sudden there was a clamp down, we couldn't see those pictures. we knew that something really bad -- people had their cell phones and all that, but then it went back and the administration which did struggle with the initial response really didn't

have to respond too much after that. >> one of the things obama talked about during the campaign was changing the u.s. image abroad. do you think he's achieved that? is he on the road to it? >> he certainly has. first of all, the bar wasn't high, let's face it. across the world, former president george bush was incredibly unpopular. was one of the things that president obama talked about in his campaign, it is something he's done. he's reached out in every speech overseas, high marks for all of that. but it's a means to an end, but it's not an end. the idea was, let's get the world back with us, liking us so that, you know, they could help us at some point. well, that point hasn't come. is it going to work? does it matter that the french like us if they're not going to join in more sanctions against iran? does it matter if germany is with us if they won't send more troops to help forces in iran? i'm sorry in afghanistan. that push hasn't come to shove

yet and that's where we know it matters. >> as you said defining the mission in afghanistan coming up with an exit strategy. first of all, there were many obama supporters believed iraq was the wrong war, those who don't want to see our troops overseas, how long did they stand for or put up with what we're seeing happening in iraq. they're going to end up probably in afghanistan. >> this is a very short window they're working with. so they have to clearly define the mission and also have to say this is how we're going to get out of it. i want to pick up on candy's point. i've been overseas with president obama, he's visited 14 countries already. and one of the things we see is the pictures and a different relationship he forms with these leaders. when we saw him in trinidad with hugo chavez who called president bush the devil, the two of them

kind of doing the man hug, you know, that was a moment that everybody was watching for, waiting for, how is he going to react and respond? he's been very open to leaders who have been hostile to our former administrations. we just saw in moscow he visited and met with the leader putin, these two guys expect putin did look dower when he sat with obama, but they sat for three hours and the first hour as i understand, president obama asked him how do we get to this point? and putin talked for an hour, an hour non-stop and president obama listened to him for an hour without interrupting. that is a different approach to world leaders and foreign policy than we saw in the last administration. >> do you think he invited him horse back riding in siberia? great to talk to both of you about this issue, as well. and, of course, we want everybody else to weigh in, as well. >> absolutely. and you can weigh in with your take on how president obama is doing as we approach the second

100 days. naturally we now approach the third 100 days of the administration, cast your vote at cnn.com/reportcard then see the results at 8:00 eastern on cnn. also new this morning, we're hearing that aerosmith's lead singer, steven tyler is in a south dakota hospital after falling off the stage at a concert last night. the group was playing at a motorcycle rally the sturgis when he fell from a cat walk while singing love in an elevator. there's still no word yet. the hospital's not release leasing any information on his. a call center in iowa is the first to accept text messages to 911. authorities say there have been cases around the country of kidnap victims trying to get help by texting friends or relatives who then call 911. help should come faster with direct testing to 911. also the best college in the country, according to forbes

magazine, it's not princeton, harva harvard, it's west pointe. they beat them out for the quality of education and the amount of debt. it's fully funded by the army followed by service. how is president obama doing on foreign policy? what has he accomplished? what's next? talking about that all day today. >> and speaking with william cohen and robert wright, correspondent with the washington post, they're going to be joining us after the break to weigh in. try to get rid of algae, and we're trying to grow it. the algae are very beautiful. they come in blue or red, golden, green. algae could be converted into biofuels... that we could someday run our cars on. in using algae to form biofuels, we're not competing with the food supply. and they absorb co2, so they help solve the greenhouse problem, as well. we're making a big commitment to finding out... just how much algae can help to meet... the fuel demands of the world.

good morning, 11 minutes after 8:00 there in the nation's capital today where it's rainy, 72 degrees, some thunderstorms

and thundershowers in the forecast a little later, going up to a high of 77. so it's really not that hot typically for this time of year in august. well, approaching 200 days on the job, the president's plate is full as we know and that also includes not only domestic issues, but foreign affairs, how does the president grade out when it comes to foreign policy? joining us from washington, we have robin wright for the washington post, author of dreams and shadows and also william cohen, former secretary of defense for bill clinton. thanks to both of you for being with us. >> great to be with you. >> we're going to hit on three of the biggest issues. one, leaving iraq. and cohen, let me start with you, he fulfilled his priority to scale back in iraq. but still questions if the military pulls out too soon. how do you think he has handled winding down the iraq war? >> well, so far, i give him very high marks, secretary gates made a very recent trip to the region

and even indicated we may be able to accelerate that departure from iraq. my only question is whether or not there's enough flexibility within the administration, the president himself say if things really start to deteriorate in a major way, whether the iraqis will invite us back in and whether the president feels he has enough political flexibility to send troops back in. but right now, i give him very high marks for the way it's been handled. >> and robin, how about you? we've scaled back as we know, we've taken on this support role, we're at the operating bases on a support level, but how much of this is going as planned when we still have, you know, more than 100,000 troops in the country? >> still the largest u.s. military and diplomatic presence in the world. the problem, i think, for this administration is the six month it's still not been able to solve some of the thorny political problems that will ensure the ability to withdraw.

issues like what do you do about the arrangement among the difference provinces in iraq? what do you do about the disputed area in the north around kirkuk. many benchmarks have not been addressed by the iraqis and that'll be all the more difficult for the united states to feel secure that things will go as planned once they do draw down. >> well, of course, those are all big issues and they tie into our next topic, as well, iran. robin, let me ask secretary cohen about this first of all. we have this deadline till september to comply on nuclear programs. russians and chinese don't seem prepared to back us if they do not comply. how do we tackle this challenge? and how do we work within the global community to try to tamp down the nuclear ambitions of iraq's neighbor? >> well, first we have to intensify our own sanctions, that means going after the financial dealings on the part of the iranians, but secondly it means that we have to have a

much closer relationship with russia and china to persuade them they need to back up their support for imposing sanctions against iran with real action. right now, iran's in a position to be able to split the u.n. security council and if so, it makes it much more difficult to put a halt to the ambitions. what sort of arrangements can we make with russia who has proposed a solution that i think the iranians ought to accept, mainly the enrichment, the uranium on russian soil allowing them to have nuclear power with civilian purposes but not nuclear weapons. >> we've talked about this before, they've said, iran's leaders have said before we need to be able to have a discussion outside of talking about denuclearization, outside of the nuclear talks. is that something that this administration may be willing to embrace? >> the administration indicated it's prepared to talk a about a lot of issues. the problem for the obama administration today, in the aftermath of the disputed

election and the two months now of uprising by the iranian people, any engagement with the regime will bestow the legitimacy that iran's own people have not been able to do. that complicates diplomacy a lot. i think that was reflected this week when the white house spokesman said the president of iran was the elected leader and then had to backtrack the next day and say that's really for the iranian people to decide. i think we're in for a really difficult period over the next two months, six months with iran. >> all right. and, of course, let's not forget afghanistan. and this has been called obama's war, something he talked about on the campaign trail as we know. how does he define the mission and also let the american people and the military know that there is an exit strategy? what are the goals in afghanistan? >> first, he should make every effort to make sure this is not defined as obama's war. there was an editorial in the washington post that indicated

that it's not obama's war, but america's war, and i think that's a mistake, as well. i think this is the world's war, that this should not be defined as america taking on this project on its own. we're seeing allies who are now starting to pull away. and if we see ourselves a year from now with only u.s. forces there, given the difficulty of that particular campaign, i think it will be very bad for us, the u.s., but also for the world. so number one, what he has to do is to define success as being able to stabilize afghanistan and train the afghan police and military so they can defend their own country. but not have a long-term km commitment in terms of our military effort. he's got to fine down the mission to be stabilization long enough for the afghani people to take over. >> right, and some have argued this, it has been a long-term commitment. it's eight years, but are we

starting from scratch? >> absolutely, and that's one of the problems. president obama has doubled the number of troops in afghanistan and there are already indications his new force commander will ask for additional troops. this is the focus is increasingly on what diplomatic and what economic aspects of the conflicts can be developed so that it's not just a military campaign, but one that offers the afghan people a real alternative, but that takes far longer than a military campaign. >> well, please stick with us, we're going to take a quick break, when we come back, we'd like to get your grades on how the administration's been doing so far when it comes to foreign policy. (announcer) listening to you. it's how we save you money at nationwide insurance. my name is sandy garza and i am on your side. only nationwide gives you an on your side review. you tell us about your life and your insurance. sometimes you don't have enough coverage.

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welcome back to the most news in the morning. 20 minutes past the hour now, our presidential performance review approaching 200 days in office, and we're asking you and some of our guests to grade the president on foreign policy, and we're back now with robin wright as well as former secretary of defense william cohen, thanks to both of you for being with us again. we talked about the three big issues. and doesn't it say a lot, secretary cohen, we haven't mentioned middle east peace. that's another huge issue, but there are other pressing ones, as well as the situation with north korea, a lot going on right now, but as we talk about where we've ended up 200 days into this administration, how do you think it's been going on foreign policy? >> i give president obama very high marks on the foreign policy. and an earlier segment, he raised a question, do other people like us today? does it matter?

the answer is more people look to the united states with greater certainly admiration and respect than they have in the past few years. that pays a lot of dividends in terms of getting people to like who you are as a country and as a leader, it helps those other countries build support when their own constituency. i give them high marks as far as changing people's attitudes towards us. >> that is interesting, as you get ready to give your grade, as well, how do we get tangible results out of that? perhaps more help in afghanistan, perhaps more help in getting iran to the table when it comes to nuclear talks. whether or not our world stature has improved. >> well, it's clear he's changed america's image, but that has not proved the kind of cooperation he's seeking and it would facilitate all of our initiatives, whether in dealing with a regime like the one in iran or deploying additional troops with nato in afghanistan. the fact is, we increasingly

need international cooperation for all of our foreign policy objectives. and so i give him a b in terms of success in improving our image, but not so far succeeding in getting countries to deliver. >> all right. and quickly before we go, what's the biggest challenge in the next 100 days for this administration? >> well, there'll be two challenges, afghanistan, but else iran. if iran continues to go on its way to producing a nuclear weapon, that could certainly destabilize the entire middle east region and i think iran will emerge as the biggest challenge for him. >> and robin, do you agree? >> i agree. the last five american presidents have been able to put iran on the back burner, but obama administration will have to face that critical question because so many intelligence agencies around the world, so many analysts believe that iran could cross the nuclear threshold during the obama administration. and so this is a problem we can't put on the back burner and

there's very deep international division about what to do with iran. and the options ranging from military strikes to diplomacy and sanctions and the timetable doesn't work on a lot of different levels. >> all right. many challenges ahead as we know, great to talk to both of you. robin wright as well as secretary of defense under president clinton william cohen, thanks for being with us this morning. >> good to be with you. >> cast your vote, cnn.com/reportcard and watch tonight with the best political team on television. 8:00 p.m. eastern here on cnn. they're talking about calling out the national guard in sweet home alabama. a county sheriff there says the budget cuts there are causing him to take drastic action. not so sure people are going to like this too much. that story's up next. exciting flavor combinations, plus a touch of garden greens make it irresistible. indoor delights.

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gentlemen, the last 24 hours have seen son extraordinary soviet naval activity. the first to sail was this ship, we believe called the red october. >> mr. ryan, would you characterize this as a first strike weapon? >> that is a possibility, sir. >> welcome back to the most news in the morning. that's a scene from the cold war thriller "the hunt for red october." back in the day the cat and mouse games from the u.s. and russian were often mimed by hollywood. >> they appear to be flexing they muscle again with submarines cruising off america's east coast. but the pentagon is playing down rumors of a cold war sequel.

>> reporter: the navy has been tracking these subs through international waters, but the russians may have sent them as a message to other nations, not the u.s. on the surface, it seems threatening, two russian attack subs patrolling a couple hundred miles off america's eastern sea board. but dig deeper, this may be an elaborate sales cruise. the russians bringing nuclear-powered submarines half way around the world to show them off for potential buyers. >> this particular submarine, they were the same type that india's looking to purchase. >> reporter: and the same type that malfunctioned last year killing 20 people on board. eric works for the u.s. naval institute and wrote a book on the combat ships. he says by sending subs to the east coast. >> they're showing our submarines are still viable, our ships are still powerful, and this is why you can still view russian weapons as something to

purchase. >> reporter: they haven't been this close to the u.s. coast in over ten years. >> there's an effort on their part to project force around the world. but tell us there's no threat. >> nobody is alarmed by it. >> reporter: perhaps this move is about making money, not war. for example, india used to buy patrol planes from russia, but just yanked a $2 billion deal for this version of aircraft. the seller, american company boeing. >> russia is understandably concerned that foreign customers are not looking to them any more as a leader in the export market for weapons. >> reporter: well, the russian general says these subs are in international waters and part of regular patrol. india has agreed to lease two of these subs with an option to buy. joe, kiran? >> thanks. checking our top stories, there are disturbing new details this morning about the man who went on a rampage at a fitness

club. police say he brought four handguns and used three of them firing at least 36 times killing three women he didn't even know. and that, according to an online diary it was his plan. it was apparently revenge for not being able to get a date for decades. well, police are looking for a suspicious woman, they say in the case of madeleine mccann, a witness telling police he talked to "victoria beckham look-a-like." she was seen within three days of the little girl's disappearance. madeleine mccann has been missing since may 3rd of 2007. and her husband made big news yesterday for his work rescuing the two american journalists. now it's hillary clinton's turn, the secretary of state saying the u.s. is committed to africa's future during a town hall meeting at the university of nairobi this morning. secretary clinton is also sitting down with our own fareed

zakaria. and senate's going to be voting on sonia sotomayor's nomination. her nomination is not in doubt. eight republican senators say they will support sotomayor. she will be the first hispanic supreme court justice and just the third woman to sit on the high court. when you hear that the national guard's been called, the first thing that comes to mind is where's the natural disaster? well, it's a fiscal disaster and the sheriff says he's calling for backup. he says there won't be enough cops to patrol the streets and he joins us live. sheriff, thanks so much for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> when you look at this thing, the first thing that comes to mind is the county's image. and i wonder if people are speaking to you this morning about whether this is a good pr move so to speak. >> it's not about a pr move. the folks in jefferson county elected me to keep neighborhoods and communities safe. the only thing i have failed to do is have the local government

understand what their first responsibility is, and that's to keep neighborhoods and communities safe. they've broken a contract with the people of jefferson county and my job and my plan is to make sure that the governor will give us some funds to keep the deputies rolling. and if funds are unavailable, i need some force multipliers to work with my deputy sheriffs. >> give us an idea, will you, of what would happen if you didn't ask for the national guard. and if this whole thing went into effect. >> i think, i think you can take a look at the night before that the court ruled against us. i had a homicide in one sleepy community, i had a homicide in another town. and in a very sleepy town, i had a burglary right there at one of the main businesses. the criminals are looking out and seeing how this county commission is funding law enforcement and i've just got a plan to -- you know what? if the county commission won't fund me, and i've got to go to

the state for help, the jefferson county deputies and myself, we're going to get the job done and jefferson county's going to be safe. >> now, they actually were talking about cutting your budget about $1 million more than they did, right? how did that happen? >> look, i had $9 million left for the remainder of the year, they cut over 40%. they cut over $4 million. and the county money will run out in the first of september. i have some money that my office has from serving papers, i'm going to have to pay the deputies out of my office and that will -- i can only -- that will go until the end of october. i can only afford to pay enough deputies to work in the jail and minimal force in law enforcement. so i need either funds to pay the full force or the national guards that i can swear in as deputy sheriffs to work with the deputy sheriffs, the small force remaining to protect the

citizens. >> you have picked up some money from drug raids i hear and confiscations, condemnations, and so forth. can you use that money? is it available to you? >> absolutely. look, i can use, i can write checks to the remaining deputies up to about $1.5 million. now i have some federal condemnation money that i just got off the phone with doj yesterday, and that can't be used to pay salaries. we're well past buying equipment, we need to be able to fund the salaries of deputy sheriffs for the remaining budget year. this is what it's about. i i call it stars on the doors of these cars. the criminals need to see it and be afraid to commit a crime. >> sounds like quite a situation, absolutely, and we thank you for coming in right now, talking to us, and we'll be keeping up on what's going on there in the county. >> thank you, guys. all right, so, another big

story there down below the mason dixon line, meanwhile, one of the things we've been covering all week is whether bill clinton upstaged his high profile wife. >> we saw him over the tv yesterday after helping secure the release of the two journalists trapped in north korea for months. his wife, meantime, secretary of state, is she getting upstaged? well, it's a question we've asked before. 34 minutes past the hour. finally, good news for people with type 2 diabetes or at risk for diabetes. introducing new nutrisystem d, the clinically tested program for losing weight and

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turn how about this one? look at the baby tootsies. don't try to eat burger king if you don't put shoes on your baby. a burger king manager actually kicked out the mother of a 6-month-old in missouri because the baby didn't have on shoes. in fact, he threatened to call the police if the child's mother didn't take their orders to go because he said the baby was violating the health code. she even put on socks on the baby and he said, that's not enough. get out.

anyway, a horse and car are playing a game of chicken on an israeli highway. check out what happened. the horse won. smashing through the windshield over the vehicle. i couldn't believe that. they say the horse actually had mire nor injuries and i do care about the driver too, of course. the driver also only with minor injuries. >> israel, that looks more like texas. >> some parts of israel, people say, i feel like i'm in texas, i feel like san antonio. anyway, everybody's okay. >> that's funny. okay. when money is tight, sometimes you need to get creative to get by. but can you really bake your way out of foreclosure? >> maybe. in this report, money in main street, how one woman's skill in the kitchen helped save her entire house.

>> reporter: actress angela logan has played many roles to earn a living. worked as a teacher, model, hairdresser and studying to be a nurse. but when she recently fell into foreclosure on her new jersey home, she turned to baking. >> it was a flash of desperation and i thought, wow, we can sell these cakes. >> a major reason she fell into a squeeze, two years ago she hired a contractor to renovate the house. he took her money but only did a portion of the work. >> reporter: to save her home, angela set a goal of selling 100 cakes in 10 days at $40 each. she asked everyone she knew to buy a cake. the hardest part was to say, can you buy my cakes? this is my problem. >> reporter: a local hotel offered the kitchen so angela could bake faster. angela says she's baked about 200 cakes, double her goal. and by qualifying for the federal make home affordable program, her monthly mortgage

payment is dropping by nearly 20%. other americans in a financial bind, she says, can also find creative answers to their cash krung. >> find your talent, find something you can do that will help. i can paint fences, you know, who needs one. >> reporter: almost any talent can generate extra cash. teaching a skill like playing an instrument, home repairs for those who are handy, even dog walking or pet sitting for animal lovers. >> wow. incredible. >> reporter: internet retailer bake me a wish got a whiff of the mortgage apply-cake, now they're wanting a whole line of her cakes. escaping foreclosure could propel angela logan to a new career as the queen of cakes. but back in her kitchen, she still studies nursing. knowing from experience never to depend upon just one role.

allan chernoff, new jersey. >> getting creative. >> exactly, do what you got to do. and speaking of that, an airline promising sunshine at your final destination or your money back. i'm all ready to go and find out which airline they're talking about. >> and where the heck they're going. >> you got it. i guess i'm not going to alaska. >> not this year. are you going to be doing dancing like that. >> there we go. >> that looks like fun. oh, goodness. i would say convenience is something that the bank of america really has the market cornered on. let me make it easier for you. let me show you how i can make it easier for you. we have the number one rated online banking website. online banking is going to be your best friend; it's going to help you manage your money. it has an alert system that can text message you, so you're mobile banking,

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hello. talk about a rain check. you can get $30 back for each rainy vacation day according to a european airline. some can get reimbursed for $29 per rainy day if they fly with the airline and good for up to 10 days of your trip. >> that's about enough to buy an umbrella. >> a real fancy one. well, the airline flies out of new york, washington, and it applies to 36 cities including barcelona, istanbul, we didn't get that shot in there, but rome, dubai, cairo, the airline defines a rainy day as at least 1/5 of an inch of rain for every 10 feet. they're getting real technical. >> it's better than nothing, i guess. and speaking of weather, in the

extreme weather center, rob is there somewhere. how are you doing, rob? >> hey, joe, we're looking at -- if they were to have that special to germany, we might have issues. >> where can they go where they're guaranteed? san diego? >> that would be perfect, as well. let's talk about what's going on weather wise. a little area of low pressure right there, right along the delmarva, and it's creating showers in and around the delmarva up to the potomac, delaware, getting up to the new york city area, but looks like the rain shield is going to stay just south. you might get a little sprinkle, but that's about it for the new york area. look for a high temperature of about 81 degrees, in boston, 77 degrees, 91 degrees in atlanta. i want to show you this, here's what's going on in the pacific. category four storm, that is hurricane felicia, and trying to get wrapped up in there is enrique.

felicia going to take control in the path towards hawaii, it'll likely weaken, they are definitely cooler, but we'll see what happens as it gets closer to hawaii. it'll do that for five or six days. check out alaska, it's a water spout. this is so rare to get this. it's in the baring sea. and took this picture of that water spout, very rare event up there, we see them in the gulf states, but in alaska? they'd have to give a rain check for this particular flight, as well. >> i'd say. that's where they do the deadliest catch, right? >> exactly, weather is typically nasty there, but they're for warmer climates usually. >> that was great video, i've the got to say. is former president bill clinton back? we haven't seen a lot of him out on the national stage. all of that changed yesterday. >> absolutely.

and he is probably basking in all of this, though he hasn't said too much. well, we'll talk about that when we come back.

our top story tonight, is it

that two american journalists arrested four months ago in north korea, sentenced to 12 years of hard labor, most likely making cheap toys for chinese children to buy. is it that they are free? is that they're back home reunited with their families? no, that is not our top story tonight. our top story tonight is the big dog is back. the big dog! >> there you go. well, it took a former president to bring journalists euna lee and laura ling back home. we can laugh because they're safe and sound. but a lot of people are saying that in the political world bill clinton is back, maybe overshadowing his wife a little bit, hillary clinton. >> our carol costello is tracking from the washington bureau this morning. is there any way he can do something without affecting his wife? >> i don't think so. yeah, the big dog is back, and

already some of the political world out there are saying that, oh, the big dog is now overshadowing his wife who remains a little dog. i don't think i said that right. was you get the gist. whenever somebody says something about bill clinton, of course it affects hillary clinton. it's this never ending soap opera surrounding the clintons. >> reporter: it was a kodak moment, the best kind, and the man who made it possible. >> when we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us president bill clinton. >> reporter: a rescuing angel who sat for the other kodak moment with a man some call the devil and brought two americans home safely. not only that, but some are saying mr. clinton's visit may also pave the way to a nuclear free north korea. it wasn't long before the hillary question came up. >> now, where is hillary?

she's in kenya. why go to kenya unless you've been ordered to go over there and kiss obama's grandfather's grave. >> reporter: hillary clinton, america's secretary of state is in africa on a diplomacy mission, important, yes, but as the "new york times" columnist writes, mr. clinton's mission trumps hers. just as hillary muscled her way back into the spotlight, she was blown off the radar screen again by an even more powerful envoy, the one she lives with. the overshadowing question comes after concerns just last month that president obama was overshadowing secretary clinton by meeting with world leaders himself and by sending vice president joe biden to iraq. clinton supporters say that wasn't true and the latest overshadowing charge isn't either. >> i don't think bill clinton would overshadow secretary clinton. if that would be the case, i'm sure he would've not done it. >> reporter: william cohen, the

defense secretary says mr. clinton not only worked closely with president obama to free the journalists, but worked with his wife, the secretary of state too. and besides, many analysts say this was the kind of mission more suited to former presidents. >> the north koreans wanted a high-level envoy and it was clear that it couldn't be somebody currently in government. so, you know, there were only several people imaginable, bill clinton, al gore, bill richardson, and the north koreans got the top banana, which is what they wanted. >> reporter: and it worked. for laura ling and euna lee, that's all that matters. >> it should be all that matters. many are wondering if president obama will use president clinton more in this sort of role. and yes, it also raises the question about who's actually running the state department and that is something president obama and secretary clinton surely want to avoid and surely will.

so, i guess the bottom line is, they're both big dogs. >> indeed. thanks so much, carol costello in washington. and still ahead. how about this one, a beautiful condo, 32 stories, in florida, one family has it all to themselves. they don't really want it to be that way. >> sounds just great if you're anti-social. >> they're saying it's creepy. 54 minutes after the hour. using a mifi, a mobile hotspot that provides up to five shared wifi connections. two are downloading the final final revised final presentation. - one just got an e-mail. - what?! - huh? - it's being revised again. the co-pilot is on mapquest. - ( rock music playing ) - and tom is streaming meeting psych-up music from meltedmetal.com. that's happening now with the new mifi from sprint, the mobile hotspot that fits in your pocket. sprint. the now network. deaf, hard of hearing and people with speech disabilities access www.sprintrelay.com.

♪ that's what it's like around here at 3:30 or 4:00 a.m. no, there's someone. there you go, say hi. that's what it's like actually for one family. they're living in what seems like a dream come true, a vacation home, they have a pool, river view, no noisy neighbors, but they are literally only

alone. >> only because for one family, again, their only -- there are no neighbors, they're the only ones in a 32-story tower. now they want out. john zarrella explains. >> reporter: yes, resort living at the pool there's always a chair. your own private gym with state of the art equipment, and you can work out all by yourself, there's nobody here to bother you. look at this parking garage, you never have to hunt for a space. and when you get on the elevator, you never have to worry about anybody getting off first. sounds great, right? well, maybe you should talk to victor. >> this is our condo and this is the seventh floor. >> reporter: this was going to be their vacation and retirement home in the oasis, a 32-story building. he paid $420,000.

>> i tell people at home and they say it's your own building. it sounds great, but it can be eerie at night. >> reporter: why? because the rest of the building is empty. this is a ghost tower. when the housing market collapsed, ft. myers got hit hard, most of the units never sold. those that did, the owners were able to move to the sister tower next door where there are people. but victor's lender won't let him agree to swap his unit here for one there. >> i've called them up a couple of times, i got their law department which told me don't leave your unit. they recommend that's abandonment. so i have to stay here. >> reporter: his attorney and the developer are trying to negotiate a solution. nothing yet. victor's biggest concern, safety. someone got into the building a month ago now every night he checks the building blocks. >> well, i have to make sure, yeah, because if i don't, what happens is they can get into the pool area through the parking

garage. >> reporter: the family has no idea how this will ultimately work out, but what's really starting to bother them is eerie silence. when the only other voice they hear is -- john zarrella, ft. myers, florida. >> maybe more people will join them now. >> i'd move in for about a week. vacation. >> exactly. well, don't forget, as we approach the president's 200th day. cnn's marking the occasion with a second national report card special on the presidency. have the second 100 days of the obama administration been days of change, frustration, let your voice be heard, you can cast your vote now cnn.com/reportcard and get all of the results from the best political team on television. cnn's national report card is tonight 8:00 p.m. eastern only on cnn. time for us to say good-bye. be back here tomorrow. >> i'm looking forward to it. filling in for john